I was a kid during this nostalgic decade, and I remember constantly sneaking into my teenage sister’s room and stealing her butterfly clips, attempting to cram as many as possible into my hairstyle each day. In my head, the more clips I managed to work into my ‘do, the cooler I would be.

But the era of the butterfly clip has long passed, and hair accessories today are sort of an afterthought or only embraced for a special occasion. But Australian brand, Kela, is changing the style game and bringing hair bling back into popularity. And the butterfly-clip loving kid inside me couldn’t be happier.

Unlike my treasured 90s hair clips, though, the charms are elegant and modern, but still fun and creative. They’re perfect for popping into your hair before a day at the office to elevate your outfit, to wear to a festival, or to add an extra element of glam to your wedding hairdo.

Unfortunately, I haven’t taken a dip into hair decorating since 1999, and so I definitely needed some tips on how to style the hair charms, so Tarryn from MOB Hair and Janna from Kela came to the SHESAID office to transform the team’s hair into on-point styles perfect for any occasion.

If you’re in need of some inspiration on how to style hair beads, which are reminiscent of my beloved 90s butterfly clips, here are three SHESAID tried and tested options which bring hair accessories into the modern era…

1. Wear them as a statement

Me with the “Kela Mohawk”, a center boxer braid and a row of shiny charms.

One of the benefits of the charms is how easy they are to put into the hair. Each pack comes with an opening tool (which comes in handy if you have long acrylic nails, like me), but you can also just use your nails to pop the clasp open. Then, it’s just as simple as closing the charm around some hair.

For me, the hairstylist created a look called the ‘Kela Mohawk’, where she did a boxer braid down the center of my head, and then adorned the braid with shiny silver charms. The addition of the charms turned a simple braid into a bold, eye-catching hairstyle in almost no time at all.

2. Enhance an existing style

Intern Ashleigh enhancing a boho crown braid with a mix of plain and sparkly charms.

The second look the hairstylists created with the hair beads was this elegant boho braid, perfect for a wedding or a formal event.

Our intern Ash’s hair was styled with loose curls, and then woven into a messy crown braid, which she then decorated with a mixture of the shiny, matte and bejeweled charms to give a whimsical yet sophisticated look.

3. Use the beads to add texture

Intern Laine with the matte gold charms dotted throughout her hair.

This is probably the simplest way to style hair jewelry to create a stunning look, and is called “dotting”. The hairstylist first gave SHESAID’s resident intern, Laine, some gorgeous textured curls and made sure the hair had a good amount of body and volume to it. She then took one of the hair charms and clipped it into the bend of a curl, to ensure the weight of the charm didn’t drop and pull the curl straight.

And that’s about it. There’s ultimately no rhyme, reason or art to placing charms in your hair in order to create this look – you can be as random as you’d like. It’s also a really flexible hairstyle; you can put one or two in your hair before going into the office for a subtle way to dress up your hair, or go crazy by dotting them everywhere. Because of the unique patented design of the silicone mold inside the Kela charms, which took three years to develop, the hair isn’t creased or marked in any way if you place a charm somewhere and then decide to move it.

With the above two looks, the hair charms added to the style, but with dotting, the charms make the style and take plain curls to an elegant, stylish new level which is modern, and a little bit playful.

Unlike my 90s butterfly clips, which always gave off a juvenile and casual vibe, hair charms are versatile and grown-up enough to be used to create looks from an everyday work ‘do to drinks with the girls or as the focal point of a bridal hairstyle.

Comment: Would you try hair charms?

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